The top of the ATLAS-V rocket in the NROL-39 launch. (Source: Twitter)

Last night, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) launched an ATLAS V rocket to haul a dozen mini spy satellites up into orbit. The choice for of the official logo of the mission has gotten people talking. Its a gigantic planet-devouring octopus with its tentacles strangling the globe.

The slogan they chose was as provocative as the image: “NOTHING IS BEYOND OUR REACH.”

The ODNI has been proudly posting its images on its Twitter account. A giant version of the logo can bee seen on the side of the rocket as it was staged for launch yesterday.

Ready for launch? An Atlas 5 will blast off at just past 11PM, PST carrying an classified NRO payload (also cubesats)

and…

In addition its primary payload, the rocket will also carry a dozen mini satellites funded by the National Reconnaissance Office and @NASA.

Explaining the logo choice, Karen Furgerson, a spokesperson for the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO), said this: “NROL-39 is represented by the octopus, a versatile, adaptable, and highly intelligent creature. Emblematically, enemies of the United States can be reached no matter where they choose to hide.”

It seems a surprising bit of thought was put into this and apparently the scowling, soulless sea-monster wasn’t chosen as a morbid caricature of the United States government. Its flailing continent-sized tentacles and its terrifying beak are only meant to intimidate America’s enemies. Whew.

The rest of us should look to the great Kraken as an all encompassing security blanket. A safety-net, if you will.

Furgerson continued, “‘Nothing is beyond our reach’ defines this mission and the value it brings to our nation and the warfighters it supports, who serve valiantly all over the globe, protecting our nation.”

This doesn’t sound like rhetoric from government that knows any limits. In a time when government spying and privacy rights are so hotly debated, to choose such a defiantly boundless image and slogan for the mission of the United States is telling… and fitting.